Her Morning Elegance
by Striped-Tie
Summary: Post-RE5. No matter how strong you are, occasionally you really do need a helping hand from someone that truly cares about you. Jill's not having an easy time dealing with new things, and Chris isn't content with her pantry being left practically empty.


A/N;

This was certainly interesting to write. I've been wanting to do this for quite awhile, but finished it off for Ditto9 :) THere is a song by Oren Lavie called 'Her Morning Elgance'. THe song and the film clip are beautiful, and for some reason really made me want to write this fic. Try listening to it while reading, it helps with the flow a lot. Look at the lyrics too, and you might be able to pick some things up. Enjoy.

* * *

There was a little down, off far from the city. Tamed, offering little to no surprises, and still held its strong green and crisp appearance. Front lawns, parks, side path flower beds, grass seemed to be everywhere.

Wind carried a sweet scent across the town, over the trees, past the cars, seeping into the open windows of stores, houses. A few occupants of either later noticed the cool warm breeze, either choosing to ignore it or close the offending window.

The air brushed past a brick fence, though the gaps of the black, open gate in between. It blew over the equally green lawn as those outside, over the few things scattered over and around the path, settling to a second floor window. Past the leaves of the tree in front of the window, that breeze was more than happy to welcome itself in, the wide open window granting it so.

It did little to disturb the room. The room itself wasn't empty in the slightest, but neither was it stocked to the brim. A bedroom, and that seemed to be all it was. Soft carpet on the ground, a grayed blue in colour, a large bed pushed up against the wall, a bedside table on both sides, a chest at the foot of it. A flower vase sat on the left table, a few flowers sitting contently in it, shifting only slightly with the breeze.

A heater was pushed close to a dressing closet, gathering a bit of dust from lack of use. The closet seemed to be king of the ignored area, a case of some sort of instrument propped up beside it. It was jarred open a fraction, only hinting that whatever resided within it was wooden.

A few shirts and a couple of socks had been lazily thrown onto the ground, a pair of slippers kicked off carelessly at one side of the bed. The sheets and covers on the bed were in shambles, untucked and pulled to and fro, all pulled up around the center.

The young blonde that was lying in the bed seemed to be doing no sleeping, and apparently hadn't done any for some time. She simply stared at the window, at the sun that had been so rare to see these days.

She sighed to herself, bringing her arms in closer, her knees up higher. The covers moved in as she did so, snuggly and tightly around her. Almost like a little cocoon of some sort, but she was no butterfly, and wouldn't be one when she rolled out of bed. She did acknowledge how little she thought of herself these days, but really saw no wrong of it.

She blinked slowly, not wishing to keep her eyes closed for too long, yet still craving any form of rest she could scrap together.

"Time to get up, Jill… Like you haven't been for the past lord knows how many days…" She muttered bitterly to herself, tugging the blankets up over her head despite the coaxing towards herself. Every day it was the same routine, but it slowly seemed to be taking her less time to bring that one foot out of the bed.

She lazily shoved the blankets off of herself, her toes just reaching the side of the bed. Hm, while growing up she'd only ever been used to single beds – This was still taking some getting used to. Actually, everything about this place and life in general was taking a lot of getting used to after everything that had happened.

She had spent too much time thinking about it, letting herself be torn up inside by everything that now she was just… Worn. She was numb from it, no longer able to feel anything other than simple nothingness about the subject; even now her actions as she awoke become groggy far from fluid. Like clock works, every hour as she tried to sleep, she would wake up. Feel her chest, glance around, and flick on the bedside lamp. Just to make sure she was away from what plagued her whenever she managed to drift to sleep. Past the stage of being reminded whenever she closed her eyes, it had yet to leave its place deep within her mind.

It was always within an hour of sleeping. Until them, she couldn't truly describe it. Before the nightmares, the terrors, and the faces all set in, it was simply… Clouds.

Clouds and the sun that she could barely see, always blocked by the clouds, filtered though only the slightest. That was all it was. She could no longer think when she tried to sleep, and it was always simply those clouds.

Regardless of that, she slipped on the slippers and walked to the door, taking as much time as she wanted. There was little hurry these days, for not at least. She didn't know if this was making a good or bad impact on her 'recovery'. A breeze blew in through the window once more, much colder in comparison to the warm one earlier, sending a shiver through her body. She muttered to herself once more, raising a hand to lift the fabric of her shirt over one of her shoulders.

The sleeves of her shirt simply sipped back down, barely held up to begin with, leaving her to simply give up in the effort. The shirt was so very loose, coming nowhere near her frame. That was how all of her clothes she now owned seemed to be. Anything that clung to her was immediately thrown away. Something about tight clothing, after having to wear that battlesuit for such a long period of time, made her feel uncomfortable beyond belief.

Her first month back 'safe' was spent in Pajamas. She'd collected twenty pairs, on last count, and the town's people raised brows when she had to leave the small sanctuary she resided in. But they didn't pass judgments, not here, for whatever reason. Refreshing, yet unnerving to Jill all the same.

On that note, at least those shirts were a step back towards 'normality'. Or at least as normal as her life could be, or would become. She would never be able to shake the unease feeling she had at every moment; she knew that.

Just as she had towards the door, she took her time down the stairs, glancing over the railing that she held firmly onto. In a way all of this seemed so surreal to her, the house, the area… The _peace_. It simply didn't feel real, like it was a day dream she has imagining, just to try and escapes from whatever she was really doing. But whenever she tried to will herself to snap out of it, stop teasing herself before she began to hope, no such awakening came. This was real, even if it didn't feel like it, even if it never would.

As soon as her bottom foot hit the ground below the stairs she heard it. Not a thud or a crash, but a crack of thunder, followed by sudden downpour against the roof. Huh, so much for a break in the bad weather. The sun had just popped out to say hello, it would seem, and the weather had digressed back to the raining onslaught.

Yet somehow it seemed to fit, seemed to make her just that little bit more calm. The rain, she had forever been fond of it, and it never failed to sooth her, even now. Granted, not to the degrees it used to when she was a child, sitting next to her bedroom window and watching the flashes of lightning, but it helped regardless.

She hummed softly to herself, slippers shuffling across the ground as she headed to the kitchen. She'd been eating only on rare occasions, her lack of hunger being put down to many things. Stress, Anxiety, Side-Effects. She couldn't be sure, but she didn't think much about it do begin with. If someone asked, she would simply lie, as it was having little effect on her health. Or at least the health she still managed to have left.

She knelt down by the lower cupboards, opening them up just a fraction to take a peak inside. Despite the little desire she had for food, there was little in there to begin with. She had remained in control of food shopping, that she was thankful for, but she was still not entirely fond of leaving the house. Thus the shopping was rarely done, and she herself was rarely seen.

This, too, bothered her little.

She simply wouldn't have breakfast today, nothing unusual for her. She grabbed hold of a box of teabags, weight indicating it was just below half full, and placed it on the bench. Cup, sugar, hot water, teabag… Opening up the fridge, however, she frowned. No milk, and she'd already put everything else together. Just _perfect_. How had she not remembered something like that?

She slammed the fridge shut, rather bothered by this now, and headed off to the lounge to slump down on the couch. The TV sat on standby, a coffee table some distance away from her legs. The place somewhat reminded her of a little cottage she used to see when she was younger, when visiting her grandmother – Though it really only seemed to be that one room that did as such.

It was only as she settled down that there was the loud sound of the gate outside creaking open – The sound seemed to be one of the only drawbacks of the area – And made her jot upright. She quickly rose from her seat, moving over to the window and taking a glance out.

The mail cam early here. Had she _slept_ in later than she had thought and not heard him? She did her best to think about it – She didn't exactly know anyone in this town, she chose to keep to herself. A neighbour wishing to introduce? Someone getting the houses mixed up?

She couldn't help but wonder, but soon saw the answer when she spotted a familiar man at her mailbox. It certainly wasn't the mailman, and she felt somewhat stupid for forgetting. _Him_. How could she have forgotten?

She moved her palm over her eyes, smiling slightly, perhaps due to the embarrassment. Of course, she'd forgotten, like she seemed to every day over the last few months. Her memory was straining to recall anything that happened, be it from earlier one day to the day before. Nothing seemed to stay in her mind for too long, and it was driving her insane. She used to always be spot on with these things, but after everything that had happened…

She shook her head, knowing nothing, neither good nor bad, would come from thinking about it. She swiftly headed over to the door, knowing that the rain must have been beating down hard on the poor man outside. Why he bothered with her, she didn't know… But she loved it.

Yet as she opened the door, he was still at the mail box, carefully looking through the mail, tossing a few of the useless ones aside. He knew what was important to her, and what was simply junk, the man not wanting her to waste any of her time on needless things.

She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly, just reaching the man at the other end of the long path. He glanced up, saw her, smiled and tucked the letters into his jacket before making his way over. He was quick to take refugee in the house, shaking as much excess water off himself as he could.

"Howdy to you too, Chris." Jill's voice was a little less than enthusiastic as she took a step back, brushing some of the rain from her face. He gave her an apologetic smile, before dipping his hand back into his jacket and passing her the letters. He took a step forward, Jill hesitantly taking a step back before his lips could meet her forehead. He frowned slightly at this, but made no comment as the blonde woman quietly looked over the addresses attached to the letters she'd been handed.

"Thanks for this," Jill said to him with a nod, trying her best to offer a smile, but failing quite miserably. He gave a nod in return, and the smile that she was unable to give in the first place. She looked him up and down for a moment, knowing in the back of her mind that it was similar to every time he'd come to get the mail for her – But damned if she could remember. "You're cold, you're wet, and you're dripping on my antic finish floor."

"I'm sorry my Lady Valentine, whatever can I do to make up for such a sin?" He chuckled, considering that statement one of the bests she had stated thus far about his usual appearance that time of morning.

"Well you can take your jacket off for one."

"My shirt and pants too?"

"Don't push it or I _will_ make you strip down that far then put your out in the street." She had stated it with such sternness and seriousness all Chris could do was laugh awkwardly, unsure whether she was joking or dead serious. He stripped the jacket off, grinning at Jill as if mocking her for watching, before tossing it over the back of a wooden chair that was far too accustom to the treatment. If it had life in it, it no doubt would have attempted to kick him in the shins by now.

Chris tilted his head slightly, gesturing towards the kitchen. Jill opened her mouth a fraction, ready to question him about whether he wanted to eat whatever happened to occupy the fridge and cupboards. Doing so might lead him to eating dry wall on his next visit; but he cut in before she could mention so.

"You want me to cook you something to it?" He quizzed gently.

She was rather taken aback by this, and looked at him rather wide-eyed. Somehow it just didn't seem like an offer you'd hear often, from anyone in general, and him in the least. It hadn't even been mentioned in the tone that you'd ask the person you'd slept with the night before, oddly enough.

"I can do that myself, Chris." She huffed, but didn't seem to carry near as much aggression in her statement as she tried to deliver. He simply offered her another one of those warm smiles that she oh so enjoyed.

"I know that, but if I left it at that, you wouldn't, would you?" He asked. She pouted at him, broke her gaze and looked off to the side. He laughed at this, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a playful nudge, before heading off to the kitchen.

Not one to accept this charity, even in her state, she quickly slunk past him, shoving him as she did so. She poked her tongue out at him as she victoriously reached the cupboards before he could, tossing the doors open.

Chris tried to fight off a broad smirk as Jill's arms fell to her sides, and her stance returned to her previous less-than-victorious one.

"_Fuuuuck_."

"No bread?"

"Shut up." She snapped, turning to face him. She kicked the door shut with the back of her heel, crossing her arms in a huff at the situation.

"Right, there's only one thing to do then." Chris announced, clapping his hands together as he did so. Jill raised a brow in response to it.

"Have eggs?" She quizzed.

"We're going food shopping." He answered, Jill's expression falling instantly – if it was possible for it to do so anymore. He sighed as Jill scrunched up her nose, tightening her grip around herself and glaring at him. "Jill, your cupboard's are practically bare and there's enough space in your fridge for a polar bear to take up residence."

"Maybe I'd like a polar bear to keep me company." She snapped again, her glare at him not easing at all.

"I'll buy you a dog when I get the chance if it's company you need," Chris stated, however Jill appeared to take some insult to this, catching him off guard.

"I don't need your charity!" She barked, uncrossing her arms and clenching her fists. Chris frowned, noticing that he was doing this often when she rejected his offers. He stepped forward, placing a hand on either of her shoulders, looking her in the eyes.

"I'm not offering you charity, Jill. You know what I'm offering you." He stated, his voice stern to mirror how hers had been earlier. Her fingers lost their grip, slowly, and her gaze dropped.

She pursed her lips together then looked up at him once more, her glare returning, but with more of a mocking feel behind it. It was a challenge, in a way, to see if he had the guts to make her go through with something like that. As far as she cared, her feet were firmly rooted to the ground, and she had no intent on going anywhere. There had to be something else either of them could have, even if the man was quite fond of toast.

"C'mon Jill. It's either go with me and get your things now, or deal with me not leaving for a few weeks until you decide that you actually need things to live." He stated with a smirk, though it quickly left his face. Some how the last statement he restated in his mind seemed rather harsh, almost a tease, considering what she had been through. "Mm, V, sorry…"

She shook her head, crossing her arms and offering him a small smile. "Ever thought maybe I want you to stay around for a few weeks?" She asked, brushing off what he was apologizing with faster than he had expected.

"That's all fine and dandy, Jill," He stated after a few moments, regaining himself from the slight surprise, "But last time I checked I was too big for your couch."

"I'm sure a tough, rugged outdoors man like you would be fine sleeping on the floor." She laughed, arms falling to her side. She glanced to the window, making a mental note of the rain before looking back at him, "You're going to drag me out there? I'll catch a cold, you know."

"Someone as hardy as you?" He snorted in reply, "I doubt it. Just grab a coat, the rain's not going to bite you, and you need that cup of tea by the looks of it."

Yes, he'd taken notice of the cooling, now useless cup of unfinished tea that sat on the counter. It was rather embarrassing for her, realizing this was the second time she'd felt that way that morning. As she made no movement, he grabbed her wrist and began leading her to the door.

She blinked, not expecting the abrupt guidance. He grabbed his jacket from the chair with his free hand, shaking it to get rid of that water once again, which still lingered no matter how much had pooled at the feet of the chair. He tossed it over his shoulder for a moment, opening the door before tossing the jacket over Jill.

She squeaked from surprise, a small rebuttal. "What are you doing?!"

"C'mon, let's go!" He chirped happily, receiving another, though much louder sound in rebuttal and he tossed the woman over his shoulder, moving down past along the path and through the rain.

Despite being somewhat muffled be his jacket, he could hear her squeal, laughing about the situations while telling him repeatedly to put her down.

All of this. Everything was worth it just to see that smile of hers or hear that even less heard laugh, both of which seemed even rarer now than it did in the old days. The old days? Could he call it that? He didn't care, it was the presence, making her happy now… That was what he wanted now, more than anything.

* * *

Maybe it was selfish of him. To come by every day, do these things she probably secretly wished he'd let her do herself, all partially an excuse just to see her. Just to make sure that she was still there.

Besides that, she knew she rarely got this far unless she practically dragged her. The rain was beating against the windows, making it near impossible to see the scenery outside. But he wasn't concentrating on the windows at all. He'd memorized the number of stops it was to the grocer's, and was keeping count in his mind. No, he was far more preoccupied with her.

The tram the two rode on was a little crowded. All of the seats were taken, and a few people were forced to stand – Chris and Jill being two of those people. He'd reached up and taken hold of the bar handle close to the roof upon their boarding, and his other hand was resting gentle on Jill's hip as she leaned against him, her tiredness quite visible. Her head rested close to his shoulder, her frame pressed against him. She breathed softly, closing her eyes for a few minutes at a time before opening tem again. Each time he inquired about what she was thinking about, she'd simply answer, 'Clouds'.

He had no idea what that meant, but he didn't question much further. She wasn't panicking, wasn't scared to close her eyes… She'd made progress since her return. Progress? He frowned, mentally scolding himself. He made it sound as if she was some sort of project, and experiment. No, he wouldn't catch himself being stupid enough to think that of her again – And may god have mercy on anyone who decided to have a joke about it. They would become all too friendly with his knuckles.

She stirred, somewhat restlessly, before glancing up at him. She remained quiet for a few moments, before taking a look at his hand on her hip. She continued with her silence until she once more looked at him, pushing her head back more against his shoulder than earlier.

"You know, I have no idea how you can be so gentle for someone so…" She began quietly, Chris straining to hear her over the rain outside the vehicle. She stopped, pausing to search her mind for a decent word to use – None that she could really find. "… Large."

"And that's what she said."

She smiled, hiding her face against his shirt. She was laughing, quietly, entertained by Chris' immaturity, as well as with his response and the quickness of it. That childish humour, as well as that childish smile. Just like the rain, something about it eased her. Even when he was mocking her, or rather having a little fun with her, deep down it made her feel less pained. Comforted, something which she thought she might never be able to feel again, along with many other things.

"You're such a moron…" She chuckled softly, settling against him again and closing her eyes.

Clouds, again, though they seemed to be letting the sun though a little more than before.

* * *

The trip from the tram stop to the store was a quick one, but Jill wanted in and out as fast as possible. She rarely felt comfortable (clearly with the exception of being with Chris), even at home, and the store was no exception. Just getting used to everything was proving to be so difficult, she didn't know how she had managed to cope this far. Upon setting foot in, her tiredness had snapped away, as if she had no time for it.

The basket she had picked up at the front of the store felt somewhat weighted on her arm, despite having nothing set in it yet. Each time Chris had pointed out something she clearly needed, she would brush him off and simply state 'next time'.

At this point she had glanced up, curious at to what moron had decided to put bread, at least the one she preferred, so high. She growled lowly, considering her options, before looking at the ground. Chris looked at her curiously for a moment, before she turned, meeting his gaze.

"You know, I really don't need any of these things." Jill stated flatly to him, taking a step away from the shelves. "I can always get these things later, you know. Come to think of it, I might just do this tomorrow."

"And if you stick to that I'll just be dragging you out, day after day until you finally by something." He warned her, and she knew too well he was being truthful with that. Perhaps this was revenge for many times she herself had forced the man around towns, or countries, whenever they had been blessed with those few small and short lived breaks in between missions.

"_Fine_." She stated, a hint of venom. She glanced up, cursing inwardly about how all stores stocked things far too high for people to reach these days. Chris hummed slightly, as if reading Jill's mind – And finding the thoughts rather cute from her – grabbed the based, reaching up with ease to grab the item from the higher shelves.

"… Show off." She pouted at him, turning while murmuring a slight 'hmph' and heading to the next aisle. He smiled as she walked off, following her like a loyal hound.

* * *

"Nope. Nope, I'm not doing it, Chris."

"Oh come on now Jilly…"

"No way."

She'd backed up against him, holding the basket filled of really only the few vitals Chris had managed to force her to buy. Well, buy if he could actually get her to the check out. For some reason she seemed either terrified or stubborn about it, avoiding the straight arrangement of people as if they were going to give her some sort of horrible disease.

"What are you so afraid of, exactly, Jill?" He quizzed.

She thought her answer over for a moment. She had many, many things she could answer with; though there was one most noticeable regardless of if those in lines knew of her past or not.

"I'm only wearing a shirt, Chris."

"And underwear… Unfortunately."

She turned around and slapped his chest hard for that one, preferring not to strike him across the face, regardless of how huffy she had become. "It's not funny!" She hissed, keeping her voice as low as possible in order to try and keep them unnoticed.

"I think it's fucking hilarious." He scoffed, wrapping his arms around her before she could protest. She squirmed, kicking his leg as she grunted to let her distaste of the action be heard. The man was simply laughing at her, earning a few glances from other shoppers, who didn't inquire despite their curiousity. "C'mon, that thing's so big it's practically a dress on you. No-one can see your arse or anything, so just hop to it."

"I _can't believe_ I didn't realise this…" She whined as Chris finally let her go. She placed a hand over her face, refusing to turn around. Chris shook his head, taking a step forward to bump her along.

"C'mon girly, get moving!"

"If you think I should buy this stuff so much go pay for it yourself."

"Nope. But I can walk close behind you so no-one sees your arse."

"You said no-one could."

"Maybe I lied?"

She called him a nasty name or two with this, and quite a few more as he continued to shove her too, and eventually through the line. She was hard to move, he had to admit, as she not once lifted her feet from the ground. When she was set on not moving, she was set on not moving. Too bad Chris certainly wanted her to do otherwise.

The boy at the checkout glanced at the two oddly for a moment, but shrugged it off rather quickly as Jill reluctantly dumped the basket's contents so they could be scanned.

"… Laundry Day?"

"Lazy day." Chris shrugged, pinching Jill's arm lightly.

"Ah." The checkout boy was quick to run the items though, trying to spare Jill much more embarrassment. The girl in question had buried her face against Chris' chest, mumbling things no doubt related to the situation. He could see, clearly, that the large man was having trouble keeping a straight face. He paid for the things once the total was stated, as Jill certainly wasn't paying enough attention to realise that it was time to head back.

* * *

The first thing on her mind was to go find some damn pants as they entered the house. She wasn't exactly preoccupied with food, rather being more than a little upset at Chris' secrecy about her lack of clothing. Oh, he would get such a beating for this later.

"Hey, you're not about to ruin my fun, are you?"

She did her best to turn and face him, but soon found it somewhat difficult to do so as he grabbed the back of her shirt. She growled, doing very little to intimidate the man who held on firmly to the fabric, all while smiling that smile she wanted to be familiar with again.

Try as she might, she couldn't hold that anger or annoyance against her, her posture becoming less tense and expression easing, She sighed, tugging the fabric from Chris hand, before grabbing the groceries from him.

"So, will you be staying for toast and some tea?"

"Hm?" He cocked his head to the side, expecting to be kicked out upon their arrival home. He asked nothing further, hinting for her to go on instead.

"My tea would be cold by now, and you never got your toast." She shrugged, looking off to the side. Slowly, her own smile return, just visible but still there nonetheless. "Other than forgetting to remind me about my lack of pants… You've been really sweet with me today."

"I've always been like this with you." He smirked, crossing his arms. "You've just been forgetting each day, if I'm not mistaken."

"Just give it to me straight, Doc," She scoffed, "You going to stay to eat or no?"

"Maybe if you give me a kiss."

She shook her head, smiling a bit broader with his statement. She crossed her own arms over her stomach, tilting her head a fraction, "You're a sly one, aren't you Chris?" When he gave no answer, she simply stood on her toes, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Will that do?"

"Not if you want me to make the tea," He checked, leaning down a fraction as she rolled her eyes at him. She spared him another kiss, slinking her arms around his neck to drag him into it deeper. In the back of her mind, she wondered if each day had ended the same way or not. But when he placed his arms around her waist, returning just as much as she was willing to give, she found herself content.

Some how everything just felt as if it were going to be alright.

* * *

A/N;

Clouds obscuring the sun indicate circumstances in your life that you either don't know how to deal with or that seem worse than they are. Either way, this symbol is an augur of everything coming out right in the end. *

This description was about Clouds in dreams… I can't remember what site I got it from, but hopefully it'll clear some things up for you ;)


End file.
